Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, DC 20554 In the Matter of ) ) WT Docket 98-143 1998 Biennial Regulatory Review -- ) RM-9148 Amendment of Part 97 of the Commission's ) RM-9150 Amateur Service rules ) RM-9196 ) To: Magalie Roman Salas, Office of the Secretary Federal Communications Commission The Portals 445 Twelfth St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 COMMENTS OF QCWA MARCONI CHAPTER 138 I. Introduction We the members of QCWA Marconi Chapter 138 file these comments in the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking WT Docket No. 98-143. In general, we agree with most of the proposals put forth by the Commission and agree that there is considerable overlap between the Novice and the Technician Plus license classes. However, rather than eliminating these two classes as the Commission proposes, we recommend that the two classes be combined into a single class intermediate between the no code Technician Class and the General Class. We, the undersigned, are all members of the National Quarter Century Wireless Association and also members of the local Marconi Chapter #138. We were all first licensed as radio amateurs more than 25 years ago and currently hold an amateur license of General, Advanced, or Extra class. Many of us entered amateur radio through the Novice Class license and have upgraded to our present license. Our comments are based on three basic premises that we feel are important to amateur radio licensing: 1. The entry-level license should be relatively easy to obtain. We feel that the current Technician license meets that need. 2. Incentive licensing has encouraged amateurs to advance their technical knowledge in order to obtain the higher classes of license with the enhanced operating privileges and call letter assignments. The current steps between the different license classes appear to be about the right size to be challenging but not overwhelming. 3. Radio Amateurs express a sense of pride in achieving the current operating privileges associated with their current class of license. The popularity of operating awards attests to the importance that many amateurs place on reaching for and achieving goals. II. Number of Amateur License Classes We propose that there be five classes of amateur radio licenses: Technician (no code), Basic (combined Technician Plus and Novice), General, Advanced, and Extra. Each higher class should have enhanced operating privileges (and call letter assignments) compared to the lower class. This many classes are needed if we maintain easy entry, moderate step size between classes (to encourage upgrading), and a particularly challenging top class. III. Importance and Disposition of the Novice Class We agree with the Commission's proposal that there is considerable overlap between the Technician Plus and the Novice Class licenses. We feel that the Commission's proposal to eliminate these two classes is unrealistic insofar as it leaves too large a step between the Technician and the General Class license. The fact that the Commission proposes that current Novice holders be allowed to renew their licenses and that Technicians be allowed to pass the 5 WPM code test doesn't really eliminate these two classes. We feel that a neater solution is to combine these two classes into a single class with a new name (we suggest the name "Basic"). All current Technician Plus and Novice holders would be grandfathered into this new Basic Class. The Basic license holder would have all of the VHF/UHF privileges of the Technician plus limited HF privileges with a 200 watt power limit. The simplest HF operating privileges could be the current Novice assignments. However, we are not averse to giving the Basic license holder additional HF privileges if it can be done without the General Class holders feeling that their privileges are being "diluted". For example, if the phone bands for General and higher are expanded, perhaps the Basic sub-bands could be expanded and additional HF phone privileges given to Basic. We ask the Commission to proceed cautiously with any band reallocations. We do not want a repeat of the incentive licensing of the 1960's whereby many General Class holders felt that significant parts of "their" bands were taken away from them and given to the higher class licensees. IV. Enforcement in the Amateur Radio Service We feel that enforcement of the Amateur Radio rules in this country is the responsibility of the Commission. Although volunteers can and do point out apparent infractions of the rules, the authority to enforce these rules rests directly with the Commission and we ask you to please meet this responsibility. V. Telegraphy Examination Requirements While the importance of Morse telegraphy has decreased over the years, it still remains the second most popular amateur communication mode in the high frequency bands because it is effective and many of us find it enjoyable. International regulations require a 5 WPM proficiency to operate on the HF bands and we recommend that this remain the minimum speed required for the Basic Class license. As a practical matter, most operation on the amateur CW bands is at a higher speed than 5 WPM so we recommend that the speed requirement for General Class privileges remain at around 13 WPM although any speed between 10 and 13 WPM would be satisfactory. For the top license class (Extra), we recommend maintaining the top speed of 20 WPM. This is a speed that proficient operators usually acquire. We wish to see that the top license grade recognize this proficiency in receiving Morse code as well as a deep knowledge of amateur radio as reflected in the written examination. We recommend maintaining three levels of code proficiency testing at 5, 10 to 13, and 20 WPM. Furthermore, we recommend that the testing for such proficiency require one minute out of five of perfect copy. VI. CONCLUSIONS We recommend that the present six classes of amateur license be reduced to five classes by combining the Technician Plus and Novice license into a common class which we have called the Basic Class. The resulting five classes would then be: Technician No Code and present exam and privileges Basic 5 WPM Code and added exam questions regarding HF operation, 200 watt limit General 10 to 13 WPM Code and current exam questions Advanced Current additional exam questions Extra 20 WPM Code and current exam questions This structure preserves the successful incentive licensing structure that has been built over the past years, allows easy entry into amateur radio, and provides a challenging top class license. It also has the advantage of not offending the current amateur radio community. We recommend that you only fix what is broken (overlap of Technician Plus and Novice) and leave the rest of the license structure alone. Respectfully submitted by Joachim Dreifuss, W2KQ, President QCWA Marconi Chapter 138 6 Fredric Dr. Ocean, NJ 07712 November 03, 1998 ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date John W. Krieg, K2ZGF 32 Asbury Ave. Atl. Highlands, NJ 07716 Nov. 3, 1998 Robert N. Boulle, W2OKM 13 Forest Drive Middletown, NJ 07748 Nov. 3, 1998 Anthony J. Colaguori, W2GUM 709 Westwood Ave. Long Branch, NJ 07740 3 November 1998 ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date Joseph Strockbine, W2KCO 447 Line Road Aberdeen, NJ 07747 Nov. 3, 1998 Philip B. Petersen, W2DME 611 Kings Hwy. East Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716 3 Nov. 1998 John J. Keating, WA2FVL 1147 Florence Ave. Union Beach, NJ 07735 4 Nov. 1998 Bernard Ricciardi, WB2EJT 1204 Ivanhoe Path Manasquan, NJ 08736 6 Nov. 1998 Edwin L. Roswell III, K2MGM 190 Parkview Terrace Lincroft, NJ 07738 6 Nov. 1998 ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date David Ottenberg, WA2DJN 37 Fredric Drive Ocean, NJ 07712 Nov. 6, 1998 Robert McKinley Jr., W2OMR 89 Stratford Road Tinton Falls, NJ 07724 November 6, 1998 Robert K. Ewing, WA4GWG 210 Harvey Ave. Lincroft, NJ 07738 Nov. 6, 1998 Francis M. Gspann, WA2ABT 140 Valley Road Neptune, NJ 07753 Nov. 6, 1998 Walter G. Kenney, W2IZC 33 Wolf Hill Dr. Warren, NJ 07059 11/10/98 ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City State ZIP ___________________________________________ Date A. Leslie Hill, W2QHS 11 Fairfield Drive Tinton Falls, NJ 07724 November 10, 1998 Ronald Parham, K2SST 112 Prospect Ave. Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716 Nov. 10, 1998 Frank A. Segalla, W2FFH 228 12th Ave. Seaside Park, NJ 08752 11/10/98 Paul Havala Jr., KF2KM 14 Villanova Dr. Englishtown, NJ 07726 11-10-98 George W. Hasslinger, WB2CGI 61 Rues Lane East Brunswick, NJ 08816 11/10/98